


Thunderstruck

by Cortesia



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, M/M, Minor Character Death, Original Character Death(s), Pre-Slash, This is not as angsty as these tags suggest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-15 00:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5765185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cortesia/pseuds/Cortesia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In another world, Galahad stumbles across the most beautiful young man he's ever seen... in the middle of a mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sushicorps (Inclinant)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inclinant/gifts).



> Many thanks to my prompter, @secondarysushicorps/Inclinant. Warnings at the end.

_ “Duck fucking right, you worthless sod!” _

 

“Yes dear,” was all Galahad, more commonly known as Harry Hart, could say. 

 

Bullets whizzed past his head; the holdouts of this particular facility were, it seemed, armed and dangerous. Galahad ducked right, following his ornery handler’s orders to dive behind a conveniently placed bit of cabinetry. He had counted five left, and then he’d be able to blow the joint - literally. He had a pocket full of miniaturized C-4 explosives that he’d been dotting along the walls at various intervals for the last hour. Now, with only a few explosives left and only a few armed, terrified scientists in between him and a well deserved three-month vacation, Galahad was feeling fairly restless.

 

Kingsman had discovered a shocking human trafficking ring whose investigation had quickly become nearly agency-wide in its scope. They had discovered about 85% of the people that had been trafficked were used as drug mules or for the sex trade; Percival and Lancelot had headed up the missions to break those rings up. Bors and Kay had gone afield and retrieved as many victims as possible. But the last 15% had been used for human experimentation.

 

Kingsman was unsure as to the nature of the experimentation; something genetic by the minuscule shards of data retrieved from smoking craters that used to be research computers. The scientists who fled or were captured gave up no information, and they had sabotaged their own work in order to ensure that Kingsman couldn’t find out more. Any human victims had been disposed of by the scientists long before any Kingsman agent arrived, their remains finally sent home to the grieving families for closure once Kingsman was done with the facilities.

 

But this… this was the last. After nearly a year working this God-awful mission, Galahad was almost entirely done storming the final research bunker that they could ferret out. He huffed into his comms, and adjusted the glasses that had been settling against the tip of his nose.

 

“I need smaller frames, Merlin. These keep slipping.”

 

_ “That’s because you took Lancelot’s frames by mistake and his big head needs them enlarged every time he he exhales.” _

 

“Mmm. Quite. Five to go then, Merlin.”

 

_ “Get on with it then. We’ve an entirely different mission for Lancelot to begin soon and he can’t go until you get home to relieve him.” _

 

“So pushy, Merlin. Onwards, I suppose.” With that proclamation, Harry twisted around the corner and cleanly shot the remaining scientists who were incapable of finding cover in any meaningful way. Four he dispatched, the fifth he shot through the shoulder. Keeping one of the crafty bastards alive might endear him to Merlin long enough to earn some extra toys for whatever his next mission might be.

 

_ “Good. Secure him and see what you can get from the terminals. Locate and tag any remains for our retrieval team. They’re ten minutes out, so don’t blow the damned place until they’re done.” _

 

“I  _ have _ done this before, Merlin,” said Harry dryly. He’d been the lead investigator into the experimentation circuit from the very beginning; as one of Kingsman’s eldest field agents, Harry had seen more strife and turmoil than some of his fellow knights combined. With Chester King beginning to make small but noticeable waves about possibly retiring the mantle of Galahad in favor of a younger candidate, Harry was more than willing to take on what would surely be recalled as one of the worst missions in recent memory.

 

Still, he mused to himself as he set up the small USB device Merlin had given him to try and infiltrate the computer wreckage, if this was the state of the world these days, perhaps letting someone else handle all the pain and hardship for once wasn’t such a terrible idea. The computer system here was mostly intact; Galahad’s swift and brutal entrance to the compound hadn’t given the scientists much time to begin deleting and destroying their work. Merlin was muttering joyously in his ear at the data being streamed to his terminals at HQ, and Galahad made himself busy going through the security feeds and logs, checking which rooms needed to be tagged for the retrieval teams to assess for remains. So as he idly cycled through the CCTV feeds, he swore rather colorfully when he saw that one cell was occupied.

 

_ And by someone alive! _

 

The cell itself was as barren and spartan as the others he had found. A metal frame bed, dingy mattress, sterile-looking metal toilet. But curled into the corner was a young man. He wore a plain grey tracksuit and nothing else. His bare feet looked as pale and monochromatic as the rest of the room, but his dirty-blond hair and striking green eyes shone like splashes of paint on a clean canvas. The young man stared intently into the camera’s eye, as if he knew Galahad was there. The cell, formerly as drab and grey as the rest of the place, bore signs of clear devastation. The metal frame bed was a twisted lump of melted steel and the mattress was the spring-laden pile of ashes beneath the organic sculpture of bed. The walls bore both scorch marks and the crackled, wiry twists of electrical damage. The cinderblock and steel walls had natal stress fractures, as if the rooms had contained a small, pressurized explosion.

 

Looking into the room through the camera, Galahad noted rather numbly that the scorches, burns, cracks, and fissures all seemed to emanate from the small form of the young man, his position in the corner relatively unscathed and unblemished. And this the young man stared into the camera.

 

Harry stared back. The young man was visually intoxicating, even despite the drab clothing he wore.

 

Merlin’s soft lilt in his ear chimed in as the image in Galahad’s glasses was finally looked at on the magician’s terminal.

 

_ “Fucking hell Harry. Is that a survivor? What the hell happened in there?!” _

 

“To be rather honest, I have absolutely no idea.”

 

_ “Well go find out! If the lad’s got family out there we need to take him home. And even if he doesn’t, we need to get him checked out my medics at the very, very least. Perhaps he can tell us more about the experiments.” _

 

“I’d rather not stress a clearly traumatized victim, if at all possible,” retorted Harry crossly.

 

“M’not traumatized.”

 

The young man’s voice rang like a bell through the tinny computer speakers. Harry’s eyes darted back to the screen. The lithe body that had once been curled into itself on the floor now stood in front of the camera, looking up into it.

 

_ “Can he hear us, Galahad?” _

 

“Can you hear me? Are you alright?”

 

The young man’s face turned from a  little eager, if mostly neutral expression into one of wry amusement.

 

“Kind of? Not like out loud. But yeah, I can hear you. And the Scot bloke in your glasses.” The voice that came through the speakers was a little throaty, accent betraying a council flat upbringing. But what drew Harry and Merlin’s attention to it mostly was that while the voice could be heard, the young man’s mouth didn’t move at all.

 

“ _ How exactly can you hear us, lad?” _ came Merlin’s voice. 

 

“And what do we call you? I’m Galahad; the Scot is Merlin. We’re working on a way to get you out of there.”

 

The young man grinned again and shrugged up at the camera.

 

“M’name is Eggsy. Gary, actually, but I prefer Eggsy. Don’t know the science and that sort of thing, yeah? But I got snatched up somehow at a club. Beer tasted a bit shite and next thing I know, I’m in this fucking room dress up like this. Pretty sure I’ve been here about half a year now, give or take a few days since I don’t really know how long I was out. 

 

“Second day here or so, bunch of lab coats, scientists you know? They come in and herd me out at arms length with tasers into some big room. Maybe a cafeteria or gym, something big like that. Had about twenty or so other folks there. Some American, some English like me. A few from the Continent. One really nice African lady. Gave us all jabs with something different. I got some kind of hot pink vial; the African lady got one that looked like a mint milkshake. Some of the folks…” The voice crackled off, like a radio losing reception, and on screen, the young man looked pained for a moment before his expression shuttered back into neutrality. He inhaled deeply and the voice crackled back into life over the speakers.

 

“Some of them died right there. About ten I’d say. A couple looked like they just had their power cords yanked. Few more kind of melted into goo? Over the next couple of months just about everybody except me, Sean, and Imari went and died. Nobody else got weird powers neither.”

 

_ “Who are Sean and Imari? And what do you mean, powers?” _ Merlin asked via the comms.

 

The young man looked thoughtful and nodded as if he hadn’t realized he had yet to mention the others.

 

“Imari was the African lady. I’m 24 by my count, and she must’ve been a good fifteen years older. Sean was one of the American blokes. Military, I think. He couldn’t talk after they jabbed him, like me. So, whatever they gave Imari let her pretty much become steam. Some kind of mist or fog. She floated out of here first chance she got and said she’d go looking for help. Got killed three months ago about two floors up by a laser net that I couldn’t get to since it was hand-deployed and not linked in to the building or network. Me, I can do all sorts of weird shit with electronics. I couldn’t make any noise after I woke up from the jab-fever, but I can do a bunch of other things. Mine seemed to be most stable too. Sean had some kind of telekinesis. Moving stuff with his mind? But the more he worked at it the more he got sick. He died about a week ago. The lab coats said it was cancer in his head. Scanned me inside and out and I seem to be fine. No side effects other than the initial fever and the talking thing.

 

“Oh, I don’t need you to open the door or nothing. I just figured I’d stay in here until you were done blowing everybody’s heads off before I came out without being able to explain myself and all.”

 

Eggsy smirked into the camera and Harry could hear a dull thud in the distance. Light shone into the cell and a panel in front of Harry started blinking red indicating a breach.

 

“I’ve been able to get out of here for months. But I didn’t want to leave Sean or Imari, and… after, I had to wait a few days to make sure I could nick enough food and some shoes and such to get further away from the bunker than half a mile.” Eggsy’s voice came in much clearer, and throughout the room Harry stood in, rather than just from the main console. “Pretty much anything non-violent I can do easily. It’s when I get frustrated or angry that things go… wrong. I tend to blow up… literally.”

 

“I take it the scorch marks and cracks in your cell were your doing?” Harry asked, hoping Eggsy could still hear him through the compound’s communications systems.

 

“Yep. Twisted the bed something awful when Sean died. Last couple of days the lab coats have been really fussy and nervous. I expect that's your doing? Riling them up with fears of getting shut down permanently?”

 

“Quite. You’re the only survivor of over 150 trafficking victims that were used for human experimentation. We knew they were trying to bother with genetic sequencing, but something like this was beyond our reckoning.”

 

“Well, suppose it’s good to know nobody else made it,” came Eggsy’s voice, the speaker system able to produce the grim emotion that played across the boy’s face. Harry tracked the young man via the CCTV cameras until he stood outside the command and research room Harry himself was in.

 

“Gonna let me in? Or do I have to blast this door down too?” Amusement registered across the synthetic voice.

 

“Right, I think this should do it.” Harry tapped a few keys and the door swung open, revealing the young electromancer behind it. Eggsy came in and shuffled awkwardly towards Harry. His face was an artist’s palette of emotions, though no sound came out of his mouth. His eyes were amused, though lines creased the boy’s tired face. The grey of his tracksuit did nothing for his complexion, and Harry could see the bruises of sleep under his eyes. But Harry thought he looked  _ beautiful _ .

 

_ “Right. Medics are on their way in with the clean up team. They’ll be at your position in five minutes. What’s your name, lad? Do you have any family we can contact?” _

 

The speakers crackled again as Eggsy replied, “Gary. Gary Unwin. Um, I’m from London? My mum and little sister should still be there. Dunno if they’re still around my stepdad though. Dean Baker is his name. Nasty piece of work, probably in prison by now.”

 

Harry’s stomach plummeted somewhere south of Hell as the young man answered.

 

“Gary Unwin? Lee Unwin’s son?”

 

The young man’s face went carefully blank, though his body began all but screaming suspicion.

 

“Yes. Who wants to know?”

 

_ “Fuck.”  _ Merlin’s voice was dry over the comms. Harry could only sigh and respond equally as dryly.

 

“Mmm. Quite.”

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

The trip back to headquarters wasn’t particularly memorable; the medics had taken Eggsy ahead of Harry so it was in the medical wing that Harry found the young man. For someone who had been roughly experimented on, he was being quite calm with the doctors poking and prodding nonstop. Merlin met him at the door, clipboard-tablet in hand and a smug look on his face.

 

“And what, pray tell, is the cause for  _ that _ ?” asked Harry.

 

“Don’t think I didn’t see your mission footage through your glasses, Galahad. Less time focusing on the computer screens and more time on that boy’s arse and lips. You’re lucky I like you, otherwise I’d have forwarded it to James and then you’d really be fucked. As it is, I’ve got the research you haven’t requested yet. And yes. That’s Lee’s son. We did a DNA swab when he arrived and they just finished comparing it to Lee’s from 18 years ago. Only family left is a half-sister, in care of the Crown. Apparently after the lad went ‘missing’ half a year ago, the stepfather went ahead and got so blindingly drunk on the money he got for selling Eggsy to the researchers that he drove himself and Mrs. Unwin into a light pole,” Merlin finished grimly. “Michelle hung on for a month or two, but passed on this past winter.”

 

“Have you told him yet?”

 

“He knows about his family, aye. But not about his father and Kingsman. Though given the circumstance in which we found him, I’m not sure we’re going to be able to release him back into the wild, so to speak. He’s entirely mute, though the medical staff can’t find a physiological reason for it. Not yet, at any rate. He seemed grim and the lights flickered dangerously when we told him, but he just asked about his sister. Apparently living the kind of life he’s had so far has inured him to the harsher realities of life.”

 

“Oh joy. What are we going to do about him then? Arthur won’t let us keep a stray, as he’d put it,” Harry asked scornfully, their King’s behavior rude at the best of times.

 

“About that. Nobody but you, I, and the medical staff here knows that he’s a product of experimentation. Apart from the muteness and the obvious electromancy, he’s human. And, frankly, I don’t want to let something like this go. Now here’s the shite part; Bors is out of commission. He’s not dead, but he’s lost a leg, a hand, and an eye in an explosion in Bosnia last week while you were still in the field. We’ll be making use of him here as a handler or analyst at his request, but Arthur has initiated replacement protocols based on the severity of Bors’ injuries. So. We’ve got a class of recruits due in tomorrow. If your lad is amenable, we’d be in a good position to try and keep him around, either as a knight, or as a tech services member should he fail out. Despite Arthur’s misgivings about Lee, by virtue of the fact that he made it as far as he did, no one else would argue against his son trying.” 

 

Merlin gave Harry a raised eyebrow as he gave his suggestion and Harry turned to look through the doorway again at the young man. His eyes were red, Harry could see, but he looked determined to stay calm and focused. 

 

“What about the boy’s sister? What can be done about that? If he undergoes the trials here, he cannot take care of her, and somehow I don’t believe he’ll be terribly thrilled with that idea.”

 

“We’re working on removing her from the ward of the Crown, but it’ll take a few days. Long enough for him to assign a separate caregiver for her.”

 

“Does he have anyone that he could assign?”

 

“Honestly, I doubt it. Lee left no family other than his wife and Eggsy, and Michelle leaves only Eggsy and the girl, ah-“ Merlin flipped through some screens on his pac before looking back at Harry. 

 

“Daisy. Her name is Daisy.” Eggsy’s voice sounded through the small speakers of Merlin’s tablet and both he and Harry jolted a bit at the sound. Peering up at Eggsy from the tablet, Harry would see the young man turn a small smile at them.

 

“I can hear you through the camera at the front. It’s a bit strange trying to shutter out all the other noise I’m getting - by the way Merlin? Somebody named Gareth in Accounting is embezzling about a thousand quid a week from something called a ‘Ties and Pie’ fund? - yeah, but I can pretty much wifi around here. Bit like spacing out though. Hard to tell if I’m in my head or in a computer, but I think that might be the sedatives they gave me on the flight back still kicking around in me.”

 

“Well then, by all means let us enter,” said Harry, coming into the room and sitting in one of the chairs near Eggsy’s bed. They had given the young man a change of clothing, so he was no longer in the dingy sweat suit, but the hospital gown did little to hide his defined body from Harry’s eyes.

 

“Well then. How are you feeling?” asked Harry.

 

“Not bad,” came the voice from Merlin’s tablet. The magician had followed Harry and lay his tablet on the bedside table so they could communicate easier.

 

“The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with you, besides the muteness. They think it’s trauma-induced.”

 

“S’not. I’ve tried speaking. Hell, I’ve tried screaming. It’s not a matter of me not wanting to. I just can’t.”

 

“We’re not worried about it, lad. Not as long as you’ve got some means of communication.” Merlin took a breath and looked to Harry, who nodded grimly.

 

“Eggsy…” Harry began before Eggsy cut him off.

 

“My dad. Yeah. I heard you. So what, was he some bad guy you all killed or something? I’ve not gone raiding your files yet, but I will if you think to lie to me. Had enough of people lying and dealing behind my back for one life, thanks.”

 

“No, your father was one of the bravest men I knew. He was in training to become one of our agents when he was killed saving my life, Merlin’s, as well as another recruit. I gave your mother, you to be precise, a medal.”

 

“Yeah I remember that. Didn’t remember it was you until I got here though.”

 

Merlin broke in, sounding confused.

 

“Why didn’t you call, lad? Surely you could have used our help at some point, if your file is anything to go by.”

 

Eggsy stiffened in the bed and squared his jaw, and the voice that rang out over the tablet’s speakers was indignant.

 

“Some bloke tells me my dad’s dead and gives me a magic medallion that fixes all my problems? Yeah right, guv. Around where I’m from, that gets you all sorts of trouble you don’t need or want, especially not for a wee lad.”

 

Eggsy huffed a bit and sat back in the bed, defeated.

 

“Doesn’t matter anyway. Dean chucked it along with everything else of my dad’s when he moved in. I had it in my gymnastics bag and the day I got dragged out of the gym and onto Smi- well. It doesn’t matter. Dean pitched the bag into the skip and that was that. I knew the number, the day my dad died. I just didn’t think it’d make any difference.”

 

Harry flinched inwardly at the slip-up. The young man’s file had alluded to potential prostitution, but to hear it all but confirmed made harry itch to kill the man that dared to call himself stepfather to the beautiful creature before him. Catching Merlin’s eye, Harry could see the man’s jaw tick with similar thoughts racing through his bald head.

 

“Don’t matter none anyway. If Dean’s dead, I’m not ever going back there. M’gonna get Daisy and we’re gonna do… something. Don’t need a voice for the factories, I suppose.”

 

Merlin gave Harry a pointed look and left the room, a small “I’ll see you later, lad” escaping his lips before he could stop it. Eggsy smiled a bit and looked back at Harry. 

 

“I take it he’s a ‘complete hard ass with no emotions?’” Eggsy nodded at the now-empty doorframe.

 

“Quite. Rather a stickler for his reputation as the love child of a demon and a witch.”

 

Harry leaned forward and his face grew somber.

 

“Eggsy. Your father was given an opportunity to join Kingsman, and I’d like to offer you the same. I’ve seen your files, and given your military training and your… unique abilities at the moment, you could be a frighteningly competent asset to our organization. I’m not going to push you to say ‘yes’ right now, because Lord knows you’ll likely receive similar offers from MI6 or any number of criminal outfits should your abilities become more common knowledge, but I’d at least like you to consider us. Tomorrow morning opens the training period for our replacement for code name ‘Bors.’ I’m Galahad, we’ve got a Percival, Lancelot, Tristan, and so forth. Our previous Bors was injured too severely to return to the field, and we’re recruiting. I’d like to make you my nomination for that position. If you’d rather not try for field work like that which you’ve very intimately seen me do, Merlin would be happy to snatch you up and keep you locked away in his technical dungeons for the next thousand years or so. Either way, we’re hoping you’ll choose to stay with Kingsman.”

 

“What about my sister? I can’t just let the Crown keep minding her. She’s my family.”

 

“Merlin has already begun the process to return her to your care, and even should you'd decide to leave, you’ll be given custody of her. Of course whether you keep that custody will be between you and the Crown during whatever evaluations you’d be put through, but that’s standard procedure in cases like that, I’m told. If you do decide to stay and train here, Daisy will be watched after by someone else you might know.”

 

Eggsy let out a silent shudder, and it took Harry a moment to realize it was a short, derisive laugh without the sound.

 

“Who? Mum’s gone, and I don’t have grandparents left. Don’t really want to poke the bee hive of Dean’s family if he’s even got any. I’ve got friends, but they’re not exactly able to care for a little girl, you feel me? I can’t choose between a job and my family, Harry. So thank you, but no thanks.”

 

“I’ll do it. I’ll keep her,” Harry blurted awkwardly before his brain could catch up and tell him it was a bad idea. Eggsy stared at him in confusion.

 

“I.. I’m not to be sent into the field for quite some time, you see. The case, your case. It was a many-month long assignment, and I’m due several months of downtime according to the psychologists we keep on staff. I could… keep her for you.” Harry made no mention of the fact that he’d never been near a toddler for longer than a train trip, or that he’d never actually  _ taken _ the downtime in the past, but had simply gone forward with more missions. Psych would be thrilled and also slightly worried at this new development.

 

The lights flickered as Harry watched Eggsy, a thick swallow forcing itself down the younger man’s throat. Harry glanced up and back at Eggsy, which blushed a bit, and set the lights glowing steadily once more.

 

“Sorry,” he said through the tablet. “Um, yes, then? If you’re sure. I don’t want to put out, I mean put  _ you _ out… jesus fuck I’m gonna shut up now.” Eggsy’s face burned red, and Harry hid his smile at the young man’s discomfiture.

 

“I’m quite sure, Eggsy. I truly think you have the makings of a formidable agent. If you were able to survive as long as you did, that speaks very well to your fortitude and your loyalty. Those are in high demand here, and I think you’d fit in just fine.”

 

“What about this?” Eggsy motioned to the tablet, and to his throat.

 

“That, I believe, is what Merlin left to go work on. Generally speaking, we disallow trainees to have personal effects during training, but we have had a few who have had disabilities, prosthetics and the like, compete. I believe he’s off altering your paperwork and building you some sort of speaker device to make it appear as though you’ve always been mute. You’ll have to be careful what you say, since you’d be in possession of a device that only had pre-recorded phrases in it, but I think Merlin will find a way to work around that.”

 

“A smart phone mobile with text to speech, guv. They’ve got apps for that. I don’t need a fake speaker-device-robot thing or whatever.” 

 

Eggsy looked slightly ashamed on Harry’s behalf, for not considering civilian products in lieu of a more “spy-worthy” gimmick.

 

“Ah, yes. Well I suppose that would work. Chester, our King Arthur, is the head of our organization. He’s… well he’s a bit of a sod really. Most Kingsmen are public school boys through and through, so you’ll be dealing with that. Chester is the poshest of them all, with all that entails.” Harry gave Eggsy a look, and received a gloriously filthy smirk in return.

 

“Posh boys love a bit of rough, mate.” 

 

Eggsy winked at him after looking Harry over like a desired piece of steak, and Harry very quickly found himself crossing his legs to avoid further embarrassment. Harry cleared his throat and looks back at the young man before him.

 

“So. Have you decided, then? If you need more time, I can give you until tomorrow morning.”

 

“Harry, mate. Do I look like I’ve got anything to lose?” Eggsy smiled a bit to himself, and then looked back at Harry, turning the full force of his pleading green eyes on the older agent.

 

“I’ll do it on one condition, well. One condition apart from you watching over Daisy and all.”

 

“And what would that be?” Harry cocked his head a bit in query.

 

“Have dinner with me sometime. Proper dinner, not just in a center or cafeteria. Like a proper date. With me.”

 

Harry could only smile warmly at the young man, his own eyes reflecting the desire between them.

 

_ “You have yourself a deal.” _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: mentions of underage sex work, mentions of human trafficking, minor characters deaths.


End file.
